


Mysterious Missions

by Merfilly



Series: Growing Up Jedi [10]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 07:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8788420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Mara is 15 now, and she really, really resents that her Master is not talking to her about this mission, let alone allowing her to go. She gets even more concerned when Ponds takes initiative.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Time Jump, my lovely friends! This is what would be three years before events of _A New Hope_ , if Ahsoka et al hadn't derailed the Chancellor's plans.

Padawan Mara Jade Tano was, if nothing else, a patient young woman. Girl by most cultures, she supposed, but living with her family, and then being mentored by Mace Windu, of all the Jedi Masters, had pushed her to an early maturity of mind.

Right now she wanted to tell the entire galaxy to stuff itself with poodoo.

It had been three years since she tied her braid on, the one that marked her as a padawan when she was on Temple grounds. Mace had encouraged her to continue studying with the Knights and Masters who gave regular classes, while filling her empty hours with training of his own. He even had begun taking her on missions to negotiate, keep the peace, or just aid in the rebuilding of the galaxy from the war against the Separatist Systems, only about a year into their partnership.

She'd gotten close to Ponds and the other members of the small squadron of vod'e that followed Mace on these missions. She could speak their language more easily than Mace, though he did try. The Jedi Master just wasn't immersed in the culture enough to catch the smaller nuances. The first time Ponds had called her vod'ika, or little sibling, she had felt pride. To the men of the 501st, she'd always been ad'ika, like Luke and Leia, or 'little child'.

All of which circled around to her frustration now.

"No."

"But—"

"I said, 'no'," Mace told her in the tone he used on knights and masters alike, the one that made them go find other people to bother. Only, it made Mara dig her heels in.

"If it's related to the visions, I should be there!" she argued.

"If it was related to the visions, you and Skywalker and Marek are the last three padawans I would ever let go. Drop it, Padawan; I am not changing my mind. This mission to Cato Neimodia is not for you."

Mara started to lodge one more protest, then threw her hands up instead. "Fine, Master." She stalked out of the apartment, leaving him to his preparations. She had a very bad feeling about this, but if Mace had made up his mind, that was all there was to it.

"Vod'ika."

The cadence was Ponds, as was the presence, and Mara turned, not willing to be rude to him even if her Master was being a bantha rump. The Commander walked over swiftly, reaching up to grasp her shoulder, other hand briefly darting out, hidden by his body. 

"I'll keep him as safe as I can, Mara," the man said, even as she felt something slide into her pocket. 

"I know you will. I just… my place is with him, and he's still sheltering me." She let her frustration have rein in her voice, but her fingers, hidden between them, flashed a quick acknowledgment of the transaction, whatever the weight in her pocket was. Ponds gave the slightest nod.

"You'll show him that, eventually." Ponds moved on then, to finish prepping the men going on this trip. Mara continued on her own way, getting out of the sight of any passersby, so that she could see what she had been given. Finding it was a chip, and she'd need a data pad, she continued out to transit, after registering that she was visiting family for the evening, and went to 500 Republica.

+++

"Aunt Padmé, do you have a data pad I can borrow to read something secret?" Mara asked, no sooner than the door had closed behind her in the elegant apartment. "Also, hello!"

The woman laughed warmly at the girl that had grown up as part of her very large, extended family, and came from around the desk she had been working at to hug her.

"Of course. Non-networked, of course?"

"Yes." Mara was taking no chances with whatever was on the chip Ponds had slipped to her. She had a feeling it was related to their mission, and for a vod to go behind their chosen _jetii_ 's back meant it had to be exceptionally serious. Padmé found such a thing, handing it over, before settling back at her desk. Whatever Mara was doing, she would respect the girl's right to privacy over it, unless invited to join in.

Mara got the chip in place, then opened the file, finding it to be a standard surveillance clip detailing a crowd on Cato Neimoidia, the crowd noises mostly obscuring any words she might have been able to make out in her limited knowledge of Pak Pak. She kept playing it until it had run through once, then started it over, making herself focus more broadly on the faces she could make out.

Three quarters of the way through it, she took note of a human that stood much taller than the others she had seen. His face looked vaguely familiar, and while she could not make out words from him or his party, the murmur had more of a Basic feel than the guttural Pak Pak. She enhanced that section of the busy marketplace, then froze it on the best shot of the man's face, trying to place it in her memory.

"Aunt?"

Padmé looked up as Mara walked over, carrying the still image on the data pad for her to see. 

"I know I should know this face, but my memory is not bringing up why or a name or anything." She turned the pad to show the Naboo Senator, her eyes watching the woman's features for any reaction that slipped through the polish of the politician.

She need not have concentrated so hard, as Padmé blanched and drew in a hissing breath of denial. "But… there's been nothing about him in years! How can he still even be alive? And looking not much older than when he… when…."

"When what? Who is he?" Mara pressed.

Padmé looked up at Mara, drawing in a deep breath. "That, my niece, is Count Dooku of Serenno, Sith Lord known as Darth Tyranus. And he looks much like he did when he sparked off the war by ordering the execution of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and myself almost twenty years ago."

Mara wobbled on her feet, even as she had to take a deep breath. One of the Sith Lords had reappeared… and her Master was going in to what had to be a trap. Without her, and that part… she would fix that part.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I use the Legends section of Wookieepedia to determine ages. Dooku is 99 here, but I'm pleading longer life and playing with the Force. Mace is 69 for contrast, and not slowing down anytime soon.


End file.
